Birmingham City – A year since THAT sacking

A day that many thought wouldn’t come but did was the sacking of Birmingham City manager Gary Rowett.

With the club placed seventh in the league, joint on points with sixth and heading into a promotion rival fixture against Brighton and Hove Albion, it was never really considered that the owners of Blues would ever sack Rowett but following a 2-1 win over Ipswich Town at St.Andrew’s on December 13th, they took the decision to relieve him of his duties.

Granted, Rowett wanted out of the club and there were a number of reasons behind his sacking but it is still to this day, one year on since it happened, one of the most baffling decisions in football.

Blues’ new owners Trillion Trophy Asia sacked one of the most promising young managers in the top four flights of English football to replace him with an Italian who will always be remember for what he did on the pitch as a player rather than what he did on the touchline as a manager.

Since the sacking of Rowett, who is now in charge of fellow Sky Bet Championship side Derby County, things have been in a downward spiral for the club and things just don’t seem to be looking up.

Blues are now onto their third manager since they sacked the former Burton Albion boss and rather than a club that looked like it was about to return to its rightful place in the Premier League, it now looks as though they could be heading down into League One.

With all being considered, here are the shocking stats that reveal just how poor Blues have been since that sacking one year ago today…

Competitive games played: 50

Games won: 9

Games drawn: 11

Games lost: 29

Total points: 38

Goals scored: 36

Goals conceded: 73

Goals scored at St.Andrew’s: 20

Goals scored away from home: 16

Games won at St.Andrew’s: 7

Games won away from home: 2

Goals scored by players that were signed by either Gianfranco Zola or Harry Redknapp: 9

Goals scored by Che Adams: 9

Goals scored by Lukas Jutkiewicz: 8

Points won in games where Lukas Jutkiewicz has scored: 7

Points won in games where Che Adams has scored: 9 (All of which were won by the same scoreline, 1-0)

When you look at the stats above, it is clear to see that although there were reasons behind sacking Rowett, it was ultimately the wrong decision from the club.

Although we can’t go back and change the past, we can always look back on what could have been had Rowett stayed with the club and continued to be successful.